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BC Conservatives ditch spokesperson over Lekstrom comments

The British Columbia Conservative Party spokesperson who last week publicly called departing energy minister Blair Lekstrom “a rat” has been stripped of his duties.

Responding to a phone message, party President Wayne McGrath sent an e-mail to the Tyee last night regarding Dean Skoreyko's status with the Conservatives: “I can advise that Mr. Skoreyko is no longer a member of our Board of Directors nor does he have any official capacity with the Party.”

McGrath said in an interview that the board members voted over the weekend and by Monday two-thirds of them had decided to remove Skoreyko from the board. "It wasn't a close vote, put it that way."

Skoreyko had been a spokesperson for the party, McGrath confirmed. "Even as spokesman you don't say things that don't reflect the party position and you don't speak the way he did, the tone."

Skoreyko said he was informed on Monday of the decision. The Tyee reported yesterday that party officials said Skoreyko was not a party spokesperson, though Skoreyko said he was and party press releases refer to him that way.

Skoreyko said he has asked to see what question was put to the board and a record of the vote, but has received no response yet.

“I've broken no rules that govern board members,” he said. “I've never received a proper reason why except it had something to do with my comments.”

Skoreyko had expressed his personal view, in strong language, to the Tyee that Lekstrom would be unwelcome in the Conservative Party. “It's a sentiment held by a pretty large concerned segment of our party that's shared obviously by me,” he said.

The issue isn't over yet and he'll wait to see what happens at the party's annual general meeting in the fall, he said.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.


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